In European Patent Publication Nos. 0174645(A2) and 0212234(A2), the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference, there are disclosed a number of alternative forms of smoking articles which typically embody (1) an aerosol generating cartridge comprising a fuel element for generating heat for transfer to an aerosol forming material which may contain a tobacco flavoring material, (2) a sleeve or jacket circumscribing the cartridge, the sleeve preferably including an insulating material around the fuel element and a tobacco containing material around the aerosol forming material and, optionally, (3) a mouthend piece, which may contain a filter element. Generally, the aerosol generating cartridge of the smoking article comprises a capsule containing an aerosol generating material with a fuel element at one end.
It is a purpose of this invention to provide high speed production apparatus for combining such aerosol generating cartridges and sleeves to form aerosol generating modules.